Today is Dennis’ birthday.  Here he is with the traditional (for our family) DQ ice cream cake. Unfortunately we’d all eaten at Colton’s and were too full to eat any of it.  It will have to hang out in the freezer.  Maybe Dennis will have some in the morning for breakfast. 

Hannah brought Dennis some local micro-brew beer from California.In case you can’t read the label, it says “Ass Kisser”.  He also got a bird bath…so he won’t have to continue watering the birds in the “saucers” from the big flower pots (like he did all summer).  It’s a big heavy concrete one.  He’ll have to decide where he wants it (and mow around it).  Paul met me at Lowe’s yesterday after work and put it in his truck to keep it hidden.  Today while Dennis was at work he put it in the yardI thought it was a good location, but Dennis disagreed.

Monday Hannah went to Springfield to visit Matt, Sara, & Jax.  Unfortunately she forgot to take the camera.  Matt plays on a co-ed softball team and Hannah played 3rd base.  She was thrilled.  She even hit the ball…but didn’t make it to base.  She tagged a couple players out and stood her ground on the base when another player ran over her, (after being tagged) trying to get her to drop the ball. Obviously co-ed softball isn’t for sissies.  Matt pitches and plays 1st.  I hope I get a chance to go to one of his games.

Things were a little slower in the nurse’s office today.  One student came in holding his chin and wiggling it back and forth.  ”My jaw feels a little loose today.  I don’t think it’s broken.  I can still talk.”   

Where do I start?   The surprise arrival of Paul for supper on Friday? My friend WePatty also came up for Grape & Fall Festival.  She played the piano for us…which was wonderful.It rained/stormed Friday night so we all decided to stay home instead of going to the football game. We were definitely fair weather fans.

Saturday started with the street market.  Hannah and I had our booth. She did better selling her tie-dyed t-shirts than I did selling my aprons.  We were there to socialize more than make money, so it worked out fine.

Dennis took a break from selling raffle tickets for the Kiwanis to sit with Hannah.

Of course there was the parade…  

Hannah and her friends went to the fair grounds and took part in the grape stomp.  Unfortunately I wasn’t there to get photos. Patty and I were worn out and just hung out at the house the rest of the evening.

Sunday we took Kristen & Smith back to the airport to fly back to L.A.  Our first stop was at Schlaffley’s.  We went on the tour and got to sample small (and quite cute) glasses of their beer.  Afterwards we went to Steak n Shake for a final Missouri meal.The house was very quiet when we got back home. 

We went to Springfield Monday.  Hung out with Jax & Sara until Hannah arrived.  Jax is a very busy boy. He has 2 bottom teeth (barely in) and can “army crawl” with amazing speed.He’s starting to look more like a blend of Matt & Sara these days.  He is a joy to be around. He definitely checked out Aunt Hannah when we picked her up at the airport.  I took a lot of family photos back at the “Springfield Brady” house but unfortunately something bad happened while I was downloading them to the computer.  All I ended up with were “corrupted files”.  This has never happened before and I hope it never happens again.  There will be another chance for family group photos next Wednesday when Dennis takes Hannah back to Springfield to fly back to CA.  Hopefully Jax will be a little less suspicious of Hannah by then. 

Work continues to be a challenge.  Today I finally got the final “dietary letters” finished and sent to parents. The state has changed the “rules” on students with food allergies and specific physician documentation is needed…which has prompted a number of parents to “come clean” about the food allergies.  It turns out that some of these allergies (to mushrooms or Trix yogurt, and even quite a few milk) are more of a student “preference” to not eat these foods than actual allergy.  So now it will be easier (I hope) to focus on true allergies and keep those students safe.  Tomorrow I tackle immunization records.

Yesterday and today I’ve driven to work in the rain.  Early morning thunderstorms.  The humidity has been 80% and temperatures in the upper 90′s.  When I leave work, I feel like I’m stepping into a sauna.  In the evening I’m hearing frogs and crickets as well as cicadas.  Fall is surely just around the corner.

today is full of promises of a good time.  Leaving for Springfield in a few minutes.  Going to pick up Jimmy John’s for lunch and then hang with Jax & Sara until Hannah’s flight arrives.  Hopefully Matt will get off around 4 and we can all hang out for a while.

Yesterday didn’t go according to plan at all.  Instead of teaching Sunday school and puttering around the house, Dennis got up EARLY Sunday morning and drove to Champaign IL to see his brother.  Saturday Dennis found out Mike was in hospital for tests…probably had a bleeding ulcer…the scope confirmed some stomach erosions.  Also having prostate issues. Sent  home on medications. Dennis said he was already looking better by the time he left last night.  No matter how bad the diagnosis, just knowing is better than fearing the unknown.

I spent the day doing laundry, engraving and sewing.  I have 2 completed aprons and another skirt almost taken apart.  Procrastination has caught up with me for sure.  Yesterday Hannah was tie-dying t-shirts to sell.  She has some Christmas ornaments she made last year that she might consider selling…and I have my dried chili peppers.  It’s a social event for us, not a money maker. But it would be nice if we got $40 to cover the cost of the booth.  :P

Off to Springfield!  Wooo Hoooo!

Isaac arrived before I got up.  It was a wet trip to work…saw several minor accidents on the way.  As soon as I got out of the VW, wind grabbed my umbrella and whipped it inside and bent it sideways.  I was wearing my rainboots so at least my feet were dry when I got to my office. It didn’t take long for me to figure out the equation: full moon + tropical storm=crazy day at RMS.  

Dennis & Fred are selling Kiwanis raffle tickets again. I told him I was too tired to go out to eat tonight.  I just heated up a bowl of left-over gumbo.  Dennis had emptied the rain gage before I got home.  1.6″ at that point, but it’s been raining off and on since.  4″-8″ is the prediction, but I don’t think we’re going to get that much.

Early to bed tonight.  Sleeping in tomorrow morning

It was St. James first home football game tonight.  The Community Tailgate Party was well attended.  I had a hotdog, chips and cookies.  I brought my own water, since I don’t drink soda.  I have many vices, but soda is not one of them.  The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but Isaac has caused a lot of rescheduling in this part of Missouri.  Since I have to work tomorrow I left at half-time when we were ahead 19-12.  I hope the 2nd half went as well.  I had the honor of being on the sidelines taking photos.

At the end of the season I’ll pick the best action photo of each senior and make a plaque for the head coach to present at the awards ceremony.  You can see by the green grass on the field, that someone worked very hard and did a lot of watering this summer. (The St. James Tigers are are in the red uniforms)

It wasn’t a bad day at work.  It was busy but no major injuries or illnesses.  It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings. We have a wild range of forecasts, from 10+” of rain and major flooding to a few sprinkles, with Isaac falling apart and going to the east of us.  Dennis had to work late tonight because all the contractors finishing the bridges before the Sept 3 deadline for “safe & sound” poured concrete tonight instead of in the morning as scheduled. 

I went to work early to catch up on things left undone yesterday.  Had too many interruptions to accomplish that task.  It’s good to be needed, I suppose. No major catastrophes today.  Lots of teachers/staff complaining of feeling “achey”.  I blamed atmospheric changes due to Isaac and offered them Ibuprofen.  Everyone left my office happy.  Tonight or tomorrow is also the full moon.

Friend Karol’s surprise “Divorce Shower” was a success.  She thought it was just going to be the usual 4 o’clock club group, but it was much much more.  She will now be surrounded by gifts (linens, dishes, utensils, couch covers, pillows) from friends in her new apartment instead of worn out stuff from her marriage.  It was a good time.  Girlfriends are the best.

Isaac.  St. James football game  & community tailgate party will be Thursday instead of Friday.  Predicted up to 8″ of rain here. Unfortunately our dried out ground is like concrete so it will run off instead of soaking up.  Flooding is predicted. 

I caught Millennium asleep in the recliner…was able to “furminate” one side of her before she woke up and ran off.  Fortunately Orange is more accepting of the furminator and I can run it over him almost daily.  Thank goodness poodles don’t shed.

I always  forget what a thoughtful and intelligent cat Orange is.  He ordered a wagon for Jax for Christmas.It took him a while to get the parts out of the box.  Then he got distracted and played in the box for a while before he started putting it together.  It soon became evident that without opposable thumbs, he wasn’t getting this wagon together.  So Dennis helped him out.This wagon is so fancy you have to put 25 pounds of air in the tires.The finished product.  This is what Mimi & Pepe are giving Jax for Christmas.  Orange is a little miffed that we are taking all the credit.

It was a busy day at work. Brenda wasn’t there to help me, so I was flying solo. Fortunately, Shelley, one of the secretaries (BTW in case you didn’t know it, secretaries actually rule the world) came back to my office to help.  At that point I was badly outnumbered by injured & sick students, and was having trouble getting a triage system in place, since more and more students kept wandering into my office.  My #1 priority was a boy who ran face first into a wall and broke a tooth.  Of course his mom’s job involves travel and she was in another county, hours away.  After several phone calls, arrangements were made for a relative to pick up student and transport him directly to dentist. Meanwhile Shelley handled clothing issues (including a boy covered in chocolate milk–he made a girl mad…) and sent gawkers back to class.  I locked the door, put up the “Gone to Lunch” sign… finally got the office cleared and went to lunch.  

I managed to cook supper…because I had it planned and everything ready to go.  I’ve been worthless since then. Tomorrow is 4 o’clock club, so Dennis will be on his own.  I’m ready for a few hours of fun, food, and funny stories with my girlfriends.

It was dark when I got up at 5:45 AM.  I’ve noticed it is getting dark earlier in the evenings too.  The leaves are falling from the trees–mostly without turning colors.  That’s drought.  The cicadas are winding down.  I’ve seen and heard some ducks & geese flying over.  The nights are cooler.  Labor Day is just around the corner.

Today wasn’t bad for a Monday.  I was busy and behind in my work most of the day.  No broken bones. Only a handful of kids were sick enough to send home.  Quite a few minor recess injuries.

I had enough energy to fix supper.  Pasta with a tomato & eggplant sauce, polenta, and fried okra.  Digging around in the freezer I also discovered a grilled chicken breasts I’d grilled earlier in the summer.  So it can be the basis for tomorrow’s supper.  I feel like I’m in a good place when I have food on hand and can plan meals at least one day ahead.

There are a few hours before bedtime…so I need to iron and I might also start sewing on an apron.  

After church it got cloudy and dark…I was pretty sure we were in for a big storm and lots of rain.  When it was all said and done, we only had .2″ according to our rain gage.  It could still rain some more I suppose, but I don’t think it is likely.

The engraving is done and ready to deliver tomorrow. Laundry is done, although I need to iron a few of my blouses.  The dust ruffle is finished and the guest bed ready.The room isn’t  completely done, but it may be a while before that happens. Once all the extra furniture and stuff is out of the room, I plan to turn the bed at a bit of an angle. And at some point paint the walls a pale gray. That may have to wait until next summer.  Making aprons is next on the list of things to do before Grape & Fall Festival (Sept 8).

The canning equipment is back in the basement.  I still have some canning jars that were lurking on the back bottom shelves that need to be washed and returned to a better spot.  Kroger had canning lids on sale for 20% off so I bought 6 boxes of lids to have ready for next year. We’ll still have some tomatoes and okra over the next few weeks.  Sweet potatoes haven’t been dug yet either.  

Gumbo for supper tonight.  The last of the frozen kielbasa went into it, along with yesterday’s okra.  Cornbread would be good with it, but we are having a salad instead. Once the rain passed, it got very hot and humid.  Don’t want to turn on the oven.

Tomorrow starts another week of school.  I’m not on top of things, but it’s getting better.  I’ll have to make my deliveries and run errand after school, so I don’t see much being accomplished at home.  Oh, well.